


is success always victory?

by asexuelf



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Angst, Drabble, Gen, Healing, Poison, Suicide, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-10-07 22:23:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20475134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asexuelf/pseuds/asexuelf
Summary: Fenris attempts to take his own life.





	is success always victory?

**Author's Note:**

> so TheTyphonSerpent wrote a lovely fic about fenris pulling anders back from suicide and it made me remember that i had this little tidbit i wrote during one of my episodes... so i added a bit of a hopeful ending and figured i'd post it to clear it out of my wips
> 
> id say "enjoy the fic" but that seems a bit macabre... so i'll say that somebody loves you and even the darkest days seem brighter when you are finally in the light 💖 so stick around, okay?

Anders wishes this happened only rarely. Scratch that, Anders wishes this _ never _ happened. He wishes this was something he couldn't imagine ever happening in his lifetime or anyone else's. He wishes the cold dread inside him was put there by shock and not the quiet acceptance of a man who has seen it too many times before.

The outline of Fenris' spine shows through the skin of his back, pressed against Anders' chest where he is loosely wrapped around him. Fenris is hunched over lying down, bent in a bow-strung fetal position. He is ashen and pale and sweat keeps his hair sticking to his neck and face. But then, those pale strands clump together in unwashed tangles and would likely stick to him anyways. Fenris' hair has always curled towards his face.

Anders holds him best as he can.

Healing poison is difficult. There are spells to purge certain diseases of the body, just as there are spells to knit flesh and sinew back together. There are spells to mend bones. But there are no spells to dig toxins from where they have soaked into the linings of the throat and stomach and now float throughout the bloodstream.

Still, Anders had cast stasis spells as soon as he had found Fenris. He'd done what he could to stop the spreading of- whatever it had been in that bottle. Whatever it was still clinging to the lips of the glass on Fenris' bedroom floor. And he had thanked the Maker and His bride that he had taken to carrying herbs in a satchel and potions on his belt.

It hadn't taken long to bring Fenris to a more stable physical state, thank goodness; a bit of this and a bit of that, stuffed beneath the tongue and poured down the throat. Then it was just a matter of lying him on the bed to heal and cleaning up the sick.

There had been so much sick.

Now, Fenris' body is fighting, assisted by an occasional burst of healing magic to speed the process. Whether Anders can assist in healing the mind and heart that took this potion, however, is another story.

Anders pushes the sweat-slicked curls away from Fenris' forehead and swallows around a tight throat. He had never been able to save anyone in the Circle. He could mend their bodies, if they were found in time, but he'd found that as soon as they could stand again, they'd throw themselves back out the window or back into the noose or back on that sharp piece of glass they'd come across.

_ This is not the Circle_, Justice supplies unhelpfully. He watches Fenris too, close to the surface every time Anders casts a spell. _ We will not fail. _

There have been few instances where Justice was incorrect. Anders closes his eyes and hopes desperately that this is not one of those times. _ We will not fail. _ He whispers the words into the skin of Fenris' back.

_ We will not fail_.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading 💚


End file.
